Porcupine Tree ‎– The Sky Moves Sideways

For those who are wondering (since I never see it mentioned in the notes of the remastered verisons) the original printings all had 1 bonus track. If it was the UK printing you had Moonloop as the bonus track (sometimes the whole thing, sometimes a shorter version), if it was the US printing you had Stars Die as the bonus track. The remastered versions move both bonus tracks to disc 2 so you have the 5 song original album by itself as disc 1. After all what's the point of making the album stylized after Wish You Were Here if you're just going to stick a 6th track in the middle there?

This was the Porcupine Tree album that was freshly out when I first heard the band, and so probably has a starting advantage with me. Quite unlike their current work, as were all the early albums as well as being quite different from each other, this one is a lusciously long and somewhat self-indulgent prog extravaganza. Resemblances to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here are so numerous it's hard to believe they were all unconscious: the opening and closing tracks are two parts of the same piece, there are the same number of tracks between them, the pace is often about the same (though Floyd never did anything as frenzied as the climax of 'Moonloop' here) and there is no denying the similarity of guitar sounds between Steve Wilson and David Gilmour. At the time, Wilson was angered by such comparisons and pointed at his use of samplers and digital technology that he felt distanced him from the 'progressive' dinosaur label, but even then I didn't believe him.

That said, there are innovative flurries here, from the sample of a phonecall of himself discussing the end of 'Dislocated Day' that is worked into that very ending, through Chris Maitland's intermittent but expressive percussion, to the enigmatic but often powerful lyrics ('sometimes, I feel like a fist; sometimes, I am the colour of the air'), and it's very far from being *just* a Pink Floyd homage. That's still a lot of where it is, though, and if your question is 'would I like this album?' then your answer is probably the same as to 'Do you like Wish You Were Here and wish there was another album like it?'...

Good album but sound is a bit harsh. "Thee Moon touches Your Shoulder" and "Stars Die" are the highlights. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are really good but you have to be in the mood.

I have always preferred the earlier, space rock material of Porcupine Tree (pre-Stupid Dream). In fact, I first heard of Porcupine Tree in 1996, they were described as a "mellow Ozric Tentacles". That's not exactly correct, but I was glad to discover PT. So in 1997 I bought the American release on C&S, and not one bit disappointed. The title track has a bit of that Pink Floyd-like feel, especially that slide guitar. They go into a techno-influenced part that might remind one of Ozric Tentacles. There are many spacy ambient parts. "Dislocated Day" is a more rock-oriented piece, with sinister overtones. "Stars Die" is a rather mellow piece that leads up to the great instrumental "Moonloop" (it's too bad the version on C&S was only 8 minutes, I've heard the full version, which is twice as long). "The Moon Touches Your Shoulders" is a great spacy acoustic piece, which leads up to the concluding title track. I noticed that this is structured similar to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here (specifically "Shine On You Crazy Diamond") in that the album has a lengthy piece that starts and then later concludes the album. with several shorter pieces in between. In fact, even Steven Wilson wanted this album to consist of one 50 minute piece, but that didn't happen, as you'll notice if you've heard the extended version heard on the more recent Snapper reissue (included as a bonus cut). This was the album where Steven Wilson decided PT become a full-on band, as Richard Barbieri (ex-Japan), Chris Maitland, and Colin Edwin became full-time band members and appeared on some of the cuts here (they did make brief guests on Up the Downstair too). No longer was Porcupine Tree some joke band, this was a band to be reckoned with. I know many people feel that Porcupine Tree only really found themselves starting with Stupid Dream, but since I prefer their earlier stuff. If you like their more psychedelic, spacy stuff, this is a great place to start.